Claude Lalanne

Louisa Guinness Gallery, London

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Madeleine Chapsal, Claude Lalanne: Bijoux, Sacs-Bijoux et la Montre-Oignon, Artcurial, Paris, 1996, 'Orchidée'

For Lalanne, everything has a function. With botanical inspiration derived from her personal gardens, she conceptualized these bronze works as gilded fossils to be worn and appreciated in perpetuity. In the 1970s she was commissioned by Artcurial to make editions of jewelry and evening bags. Much of it was made in vermeil and in larger editions and though the relationship ended acrimoniously, the work embodies her playful and feminine sensibility.